A Johnson County Post forum for candidates running for the Gardner Edgerton school board revolved around a lengthy discussion about political influence on the district’s curriculum and the board’s review of books some parents find objectionable.

The candidates vying for three seats on the board this November also discussed ways they’d look to boost student achievement, the payoff for adding more early release days to the school calendar and the possibility of eventually opening a second high school.

The forum in the auditorium at Trail Ridge Middle School, 495 E. Grand Street, in Gardner, came on the eighth of 12 scheduled nights of local candidate forums that the Post is hosting across Johnson County ahead of the Nov. 4 election.

Six of the seven candidates, including two current board members, participated in the event.

Who is running?

Board Position 1

• Julie Aldridge
• Matthew Harlow *Did not participate*
• Melissa Hershey

Board Position 4

• Sam Dominguez
• Lana Sutton (incumbent)

Board Position 6

• Greg Chapman (incumbent)
• Keith Davenport 

Keith Davenport participated Wednesday, but he announced this summer that he will not be able to accept the position if he wins because he is moving outside the boundaries of the board position for which he is running.

Also note that current Position 5 board member Tom Reddin is running unopposed and was not invited to Wednesday’s event.

How to watch the Post’s forum

The Post livestreamed Tuesday’s event on our Facebook page. A recording of the forum can be viewed there, though it is now Facebook’s policy to erase live videos 30 days after they are produced.

You can also watch the full Gardner Edgerton school board forum on the Post’s new YouTube channel, where it should be preserved into the future.

The full forum video is also embedded below:

Questions

The candidates gave opening statements and answered a series of questions based on reader feedback and suggestions received by the Post before and during the event.

Timestamps are included at the end of each question to help you navigate through the forum video if you’d like to jump around to issues that matter most to you.

1. Opening statements [3:40]
2. Challenge/priority: What is the next big challenge for the Gardner Edgerton School District? And how will you address it over the next four years on the board? [11:02]

   

   

3. Student achievement: Nearly all of you mentioned student achievement in some form in your response to the previous question. Gardner Edgerton students regularly outperform state averages on periodic state English and math tests, as well as graduation rates and average ACT scores, those those averages have been slipping slightly in recent years, in the wake of COVID-19. What do you see as the most urgent area for academic growth in your district? And how would you tackle it if elected? [20:05]
4. Politics and partisanship: We are getting questions from the audience alluding to politics and politicization of the school board. One audience member asked it this way, “What is your approach to ensuring board decisions prioritize learning outcomes and educational excellence rather than becoming entangled in broader political debates?” [27:16]
   • • Political influence on curriculum: Asked as a follow-up to all candidates. Another audience question, “How will you ensure that parents receive accurat, transparent information about curriculum without outside political groups to dictate what books and materials are available in schools?”
     • Removal of books: Do you agree with the decision late last year to remove a single copy of the YA novel “Lily and Dunkin” from a school’s library? And what do you think of the board’s current process to review books and materials?

       

       

5. Early release days: This comes from the audience, “What have you seen that has improved in the district with all the early release days? What is the payoff?” [45:55]
6. Building needs and a new high school: From the audience, “Can you identify a size limit at the high school that would indicate the need for an additional high school?” This gets to a broader question of building needs throughout the district. Voters this year approved a $100 million bond measure that will go towards various projects, including a new elementary school. But do you see the need in the future for a new high school? Beyond that, what are the district’s most urgent building needs? [52:30]

   

   

7. Special education staffing: This from the audience, as well, “What will you do to close gaps in special ed para-professional staffing?” You might broaden that question to think about classified staff, in general. [59:50]